"This political biography of Professor Jose Maria Sison is thought provoking and a necessary read..." --
Senator Loren Legarda, Majority Floor Leader, Philippine Senate"Those of us working to stop the unbridled aggression against the world...should make every effort to defend Sison..." --
Ramsey Clark, Former Attorney General of the United States"Written in the vivid and biting style, in the tradition of the great revolutionary essayists..." --
Dr. Edberto Villegas, Bulatlat
Jose Maria Sison was born February 8, 1939. At the University of the Philippines he majored in English – i.e. literature (not political science, as many assume)and founded the Kabataang Makabayan,(Patriotic Youth), founded or co-founded a host of other organizations; re-established the Communist Party of the Philippines in 1969 and directly led it until his capture in 1977; spent more than eight years in prison; was heavily tortured and held incommunicado.
Released in 1986, he founded the Partido ng Bayan and was then forced into exile in Holland where he has spent the last decade. He is the author of the seminal books, Struggle for National Democracy, and under the nom de guerre Amado Guerrero, Philippine Society and Revolution, Specific Characteristics of Our People’s War, and Our Urgent Tasks.
These unique characteristics would evolve and become the hallmarks of Philippine militancy. The organizations he led summed up these virtues in succinct phrases (serve the people; dare to struggle, etc ..) and spread them throughout the archipelago. Such clarity of purpose and clarity of action enabled the people to weather decades of the Marcoses as well as demoralization over succeeding Philippine regimes.
By labeling Jose Maria Sison a "terrorist" – sans proof, sans process -- freezing his and his wife’s bank account (containing $1,000), and cutting off the pathetic Dutch government subsidy intended to keep him and his family at subsistence-level existence -- all these actions were so palpably unjust and unwarranted, and so grossly insulting of the Filipino people, that they unmasked those who advocated them as anti-democratic, violators of human and civil rights, and just plain fascists.
The governments of Europe, US, Canada and the Philippines keep trying to bury Jose Maria Sison and only succeed in having songs sung in his praise. In the midst of whatever adversity, Joma Sison constantly gives Filipinos a reason to affirm and celebrate themselves as a people. They should continue to do so, the Sison way.
Ninotchka Rosca is an internationally acclaimed journalist and novelist from the Philippines. She has five published books and some 400 by-lined articles. She has received numerous awards for both journalism and literature, including the American Book Award for the novel Twice Blessed.
Rosca has also been active around the issues of human rights, freedom of expression and women’s rights. She was the founding chair of the women’s solidarity organization GABRIELA Network USA. She admits to having, as a writer, "the propensity to walk into the heart of controversy" – hence this collaboration with the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
